According to a recent statistic, cancer is the cause of one in four deaths in the United States. The most prevalent cancer treatment methods are surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Additionally, the use of magnetic nanoparticle based hyperthermia treatment as a cancer treatment is increasing. In such hyperthermia treatment, magnetic nanoparticles are injected directly into the tumor at multiple different locations within the tumor to cover the full tumor volume. Subsequent heating of the nanoparticles by an external, alternating magnetic field can produce local temperatures sufficiently high to have therapeutic effect. Commonly, chemotherapy utilizes drugs infused into the patient's bloodstream. Frequently, two or more cancer treatment methods are used in combination.
Cancerous tumors are typically characterized by leaky vessels. As a consequence of the leaky vessels and impaired lymphatic drainage, as well as rapid growth, cancerous tumors are often associated with abnormally elevated tissue pressure. This elevated pressure impedes uptake, into the cancerous tumor, of therapeutic agents delivered via the bloodstream, thus reducing the efficacy of chemotherapy and magnetic nanoparticle based hyperthermia treatments. To compensate for this effect, a relatively large amount of therapeutic agent delivered must be administered to the patient, which may result in significant side effects. Alternatively, other treatment methods, such as surgery or radiation, must be employed.